Our new Lives, A Syoc
by 25th Doctor
Summary: The new patch to the game was released, no one expected what came next. Players found themselves looking through the eyes of the avatars, and they can't leave. Now the players must defeat the End, as well as deal with the newly sentient mobs that were created by Herobrine. Friends and enemies will be made as these players and Mobs seek to escape the worlds they helped make. SYOC
1. The beginning

Our new lives: chapter 1

The beginning.

Disclaimer: I do not own Minecraft. I also do not own most of the OCs in this story, as they were volunteered by other people. I hope you enjoy this chapter, featuring the OCs of:

Chris Abendstern (Kit): submitted by Nefertam

Alyannie (A-lee-annie) Smith: submitted by KorianneAnders

Alice Willof: submitted by Happy77123

Please leave your thoughts in the reviews.

Day 1

Alyannie Smith began to stir as she found herself in a strange position. She remembered falling asleep in her bed, so why was she now in an Oak tree…and why was the tree made of blocks? She stood up and looked around. She saw a river nearby, mountains in the distance in one direction, and a jungle in the other.

She found two possibilities; one she was dreaming about being in one of her favorite games, or she was actually inside of it. She decided to climb out of the tree, and tripped in the process. The resulting tumble from the tree caused her to land face first onto the dirt below her, her long, flowing, blond hair falling all over the place. She pulled herself up, brushing her hair out of her face. She put herself in a sitting position, and moaned softly from the pain.

"Oww..." This was not a dream! She looked down at herself, and saw that she was wearing what she had fallen asleep in. She was wearing a shoulderless green shirt with a golden musical note on the front, white pants, and her brown boots. She stood up and began to brush herself off. She turned around and saw a chest on the ground behind her, sitting at the base of the tree. She walked over to it, and opened it.

Inside she found some basic items, a wooden pickaxe, three apples, a Birch tree sapling, seven oak planks, and six sticks. As she picked up the items, her inventory screen appeared in front of her. After placing everything into it, she noticed the two things that had been there first, a map, and her headphones. She reached out and took her headphones into her hand, and proceeded to place them around her neck, the white and green colors standing out from her blond hair.

She pulled out her map and watched as her immediate area was revealed. She looked away however when she heard a sound come from the bushes nearby. She quickly turned towards it and pulled out the pickaxe, ready to fight whatever it was that was coming.

It turned out to be a boy, or young man really. He looked handsome, with beautiful eyes, high cheekbones, wavy brunette hair, and Cupid 's bow lips. He had a skinny body, almost too skinny in Alyannie's opinion, and he had small hands, which were clasped on a wooden sword.

Seeing the sword made Alyannie gulp, since this meant that if he wanted a fight, he would have the edge. Instead of attacking her however, he seemed to smile a bit upon seeing her, and seemed to relax a little, and the sword now rested at his side, (still in hand), but at his side. He began to speak to her.

"Hey, it's good to see I'm not the only one here! My name is Chris Abendstern! What's your name?" He asked. Alyannie slowly lowered her pickaxe from its defensive positon in front of her slowly to her side.

"My name is Alyannie Smith! Do you have any idea where are, or how we got here? The last thing I remember is falling asleep with my music on!" She said, still keeping her distance. Chris walked out of the tree line and walked forward slowly. As a sign of trust, he decided to put away his sword.

"No, I don't have any idea what happened either. I was just getting ready to play this game, when I saw this patch update. Once I saw the installation was complete, I must have passed out or something."

Alyannie perked up at this news. "Me too! I was installing the new patch when I fell asleep!" The two of them were now looking at each other, thinking the same thing. That this newest patch had somehow taken them from their world into this one.

The two decided to stick together for now, and both set to work preparing a shelter for the coming night. Thanks to Alyannie's pickaxe, they were able to mine enough stone to make some stone equipment, so if they needed to, they could fight.

The two had decided that height was their ally, and so built their house in one of the tall jungle trees nearby. As they finished laying down the floor, they realized that Alyannie's apples were their only food. The two began to worry, until they saw someone on the other side of the river.

It looked like another woman, with brown hair, a purple shirt and black pants. In her hands was a stone sword, and in her sights was a pig meandering by the stream. The two in the tree decided that it may be wise to bring their weapons with them.

When they reached their side of the river, they saw the woman spring into action, jabbing her sword into the pig's side. The mob was quickly dead, and uncooked pork chops soon appeared, along with experience orbs. She picked all of those up, and looked up and saw Chris and Alyannie. She smiled and waved at them with the hand not holding a sword.

Chris seemed not to know what to do, so Alyannie decided to speak. "Hello! Are you like us? Someone who installed the latest Minecraft patch, and then suddenly woke up inside the game?"

The woman nodded, and jumped into the river. She swam over to their side, and shook herself off a bit. "My names Alice Willof, Minecraft hunter, survivalist, and also hater of pigs!" She offered a hand to Alyannie, which was returned.

"I'm Alyannie Smith, and this is Chris Abendstern!"

"A pleasure!" Chris said, as he shook her hand in turn. Once that was done, the two heard their stomachs growl with hunger. Alice looked at them.

"You two sound like you haven't eaten in a while, how much have got food wise?"

Alyannie blushed slightly in embarrassment as she quietly "Three apples…" Alice shook her head, and turned toward their treehouse. She turned back to them.

"Alright, how is this for a deal? I'll give you guys some of the food I collected, in exchange, I get to spend the night with you guys, deal?" She said, once again offering her hand.

Chris and Alyannie looked briefly at each other, then both shook Alice's hand. "Deal!" they both said.

They all looked and saw that the sun would be setting soon. They returned and finished the work that needed finishing, and lit up the inside of the home with torches, just as the orange light of the sun disappeared beyond the horizon.

They each laid down to sleep, they didn't have beds, but Alice had three pieces of wool, which worked as decent pillows. As the three spent their first night in this world, they all wondered what would come next. What none of them knew was that they were but a few parts of an even greater whole.

A.N.

I apologize for how long this chapter took to make. I had a lot of travelling, work, school, and recovery from illness to get through. I cannot promise regular updates, but reviews will motivate me to work faster (Cough cough). I only used three of the eight or so ocs that I have received so far, because I want to spread them out a bit. If your oc is not in one of the current chapters, they will be later on. If you want, you can send in two oc's apiece, BUT if you do, then make them different from your other character. If your first oc was a human, make your second a mob, and give them something to show that they are different from before.

Finally, something I would like to add to the application form is your character's background. Give me some of their history, where they used to live, how many friends they had etc. To the creators of these characters, I would appreciate this information on them as well, and to everyone who has sent in a character so far. I apologize for the inconvenience, and I should have remembered to add it to the for in the first place.

Thank you all for your patience, and I hope you will continue reading.

The 25th Doctor.


	2. Chapter 3

Our new lives ch.2

New friends.

I apologize for the long delay, but here is the third chapter, and some new OC's. See the disclaimer in the previous chapter.

{Southern Jungle: Day 2-dawn}

Alyannie woke up first the next morning, and stepped outside onto a small balcony. She looked down at the forest floor below before becoming transfixed with the sunrise. She sat down and watched the sun come up for a while, and started to hum softly, as she watched as the reality the situation started to truly sink in.

"Are you always such an early riser?" She jumped and turned around to see Chris standing behind her. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." He sat down next to her.

"It's fine, I was just thinking about all of this!" She gestured with an arm. "I was thinking about why this happened, and if maybe we are stuck here."

Chris looked from her, to the surrounding area, to the sunrise. In the distance were various mobs, a cow, a sheep, and what looked like a creeper walking aimlessly around a hill top. He returned his attention to her, her arms wrapped around her knees, and her eyes staring off into the distance.

"I think we'll be alright!" She looked over at him. "I bet that others are here to, just like us and Alice in here. I bet that we just have to survive long enough to meet up with them, and then maybe we can all figure out what to do!" He smiled at her. "So, don't worry too much, we'll get through this!"

She returned his smile.

"Sorry to ruin the moment you two, but we should probably get moving." Chris and Alyannie both jumped and quickly looked at the smirking Alice standing in the door way. "If we are going to find anyone else, we better get moving!" She went back inside and began to collect the crafting table and the smelter.

The two players outside looked at each other a final time, and began to work on deconstructing the house. After a few minutes, the trio began walking north, as the jungle appeared to be at the southern edge of the map. Alice led the way, breaking through any vegetation that stood in their way, Chris was behind her, and Alyannie brought up the rear.

More than once, Alyannie felt that they were being watched. Just as she thought she finally saw something, she wound up walking into Chris's back, as he had stopped moving forward.

"Sorry."

"Shush!" He said urgently, pulling out his sword, like Alice had done in front of them. Alyannie pulled out her sword and followed them silently toward a small stream that ran through the forest. As they got closer, Alyannie noticed something hanging from a tree branch, and she blushed when she realized what it was. She tugged at Chris's sleeve and pointed at it. "What is… oh." Chris trailed off as a blush came to his face as well. Alice approached the tree branch and removed the object.

"Kinda damp. Must have been left here to dry. In her hands, was a woman's bra. As the grouped looked about they saw foot prints on the other shore. "Whoever was here must have fallen in the stream, and they can't be far off!" They used some dirt they had collected to make a bridge and crossed the stream, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be nearby.

{in the bushes}

Diane Curtis was fifteen years old. She had shoulder length black hair and blue eyes, and was hiding in a bush to avoid being spotted by a group of sword carrying strangers. To make things even worse, she saw them make off with her bra. She had been bathing in the river after doing some makeshift laundry, since she had landed in a mud puddle when she arrived. When she heard them approach, she had quickly climbed out of the water and grabbed the clothes that had been closest, her shirt and pants, and ducked behind the bush she was currently behind.

"Looks like they're gone." She sighed and sat down with her legs crossed. She briefly jumped when she heard a strange squishing sound, but smiled when she saw the source. Hopping toward her was a Jerry Slimer the Second, a small Slime mob that she had met the other day when she arrived.

{the previous day}

She had seen him traveling alone, and instead of attacking her, he seemed too afraid to move. "Hello there." She had said. "You're kind of far from the swamp aren't you?"

It was then that the Slime did something she hadn't expected, he nodded in agreement. (At least about as well as a living cube of slime could). Diane decided to try getting closer, and to his credit, he didn't retreat, or try to attack her. She knelt down in front of him, looking into his large eyes. "Do you know where we are?"

He shook side to side. "Yeah neither do I. Do you have any friends? Or maybe family nearby that can help?"

The Slime took on a look that seemed to look sad. "Oh, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you sad." The slime continued to look at the ground with a sad expression.

"I don't really know where I am, or why I'm here." The two individuals both looked down at the ground in sadness, until Diane looked at the slime in front of her. "Hey, if you don't have anywhere else to go, do you want to come with me?"

The slime looked up, its eyes wide open. "There's no reason for us to both be wandering alone! So, do you want to be friends?"

The slime looked at her for another moment, before bouncing straight up quickly, as if it were happy.

"I'll take that as a yes." Diane said, as she stood up she looked at it again. "My name is Diane Curtis! Do you have a name?" The slime stopped bouncing and seemed to think for a few moments before shaking left and right. "No huh? Let's see…" She raised a hand to her chin as she thought of a good name for her new friend. She snapped her fingers when the perfect name popped into her head.

"I've got it! How about Jerry Slimer the Second?" The Slime looked t her for a moment before bouncing again in the affirmative. "Alright then Second. Let's go!"

{Present time}

Diane walked after the people who had stolen her bra, with Second in tow behind her. She found them just a little ways ahead of her, as they were trying to decide the fastest way to get out of the forest. She ducked down behind another bush and tried to listen in. A dark haired girl stood the furthest away. TO the far right was a man, and between them was a blonde girl.

"We should just keep going straight shouldn't we?" Said the blonde haired girl.

The dark haired girl turned to answer her, but spotted Diane instead. She pulled out her sword and rushed forward, shoving the past the blonde. Diane quickly pulled out her own sword and was able to stop the attack before it landed.

Unfortunately for Diane however, she did was not able to stop the punch that the girl in front of her that sent her to the ground. As the dark haired girl stood over her, with her sword aimed at Diane's neck, Second charged forward, bouncing into the Girls right knee, knocking her off balance.

The boy began to advance forward as the girl began to recover, but the fight was ended when the Blonde charged in-between the four fighters.

"Knock it off! All of you, we don't need to be fighting right now!" She shouted, her hands held out to the side, facing her own companions.

Diane stood up, and Second bounced beside her to make sure she was alright. The blonde turned around and walked up to her. She held out a hand and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry about that, my friend is a bit hasty sometimes. I am Alyannie Smith! What's your name?"

Diane took the hand and shook it, returning the smile. "Diane Curtis, and this is my friend Jerry Slimer the Second!" Alyannie looked curiously at the slime, who began to bounce as if in greeting. The boy from the group approached, putting his sword away.

"My names Chris, Chris Abendstern, A pleasure to meet you two." He offered a hand which Diane also shook. Diane looked at the girl that had attacked her, who seemed to be staring at the introductions taking place.

"Her name's Alice, and I'm sure that she is sorry about attacking you for no reason." Alyannie volunteered. Alice sent a look at her, but nodded.

Diane decided to let apologies go for now, and needed to ask some questions. "It's fine really, no harm done!" well, besides the pain in her cheek, but that was not important. "You guys are the first humans I've met since I woke up here! Do any of you have any idea what happened, or why we all suddenly woke up inside Minecraft?"

"No, we're as clueless as you are. We installed the new patch, we fall asleep, boom, welcome to Minecraft!" Chris said.

"Since we are all in this together, how about we all work together? Maybe we will find the answer further North!" Alyannie said hopefully.

Diane looked at Second, and then nodded. "Sounds good to me!" The growing group began to walk forward, but had not gone more than five steps before Diane stopped them. "Um… before I forget… can I have my bra back?"

Hello everyone. I do sincerely apologize for how long this chapter took, but College is stressful and time consuming. I also send an apology to the people I accidentally lied to in saying that their character would be in this chapter, I originally meant to introduce three or four more OC's in this chapter, but I just couldn't find the right opportunity for them in this one.

If you have not already, please send in a background on your characters. This will help very much in writhing them correctly. I am also still accepting Mob OC's, as I only have a few of them. I tried to listen to the constructive criticism I have received and tried to add more dialogue. Please let me know what you think in the reviews, as reading them is a great boost in morale for me.

I don't know when I'll be able to publish the next chapter, but hopefully it will be soon. I hope this chapter meets the expectations you have of me.

Sincerely

The 25th Doctor


	3. The observer

The Observer.

Disclaimer: See chapter 2.

{Day 2: Dusk. Southern Jungle}

Alice stood at the top of one tall jungle trees, trying to find the end of the great jungle. She looked to the north, and could just make out what looked like the edge of the tree line. She smiled, and began her descent.

Below the tree, her companions rested. Alyannie talked to Diane while they worked on building a shelter, while Chris and the Second were collecting more wood from the jungle trees. Or at least,Chris was, and Second provided moral support.

"Hey guys, good news! We should be out of this Jungle by tomorrow! I saw the edge of the trees." Alice called down as she entered the last leg of her descent.

"That's good to hear." Alyannie said. She placed her last block of dirt onto the roof of the shelter. Diane walked out of the shelter.

"Hey Chris! Time to finish up with the wood collecting!" Chris turned and waved a response that he was coming. As he and Second made their way over he showed that he had collected an impressive amount of wood.

"We should have plenty of Charcoal with this stuff." He said smiling.

The group seemed to be in good spirits. Alice had collected a lot of food, so the group was able to sit back and relax as the food cooked in the furnace. Diane had proven to be a rather spirited young girl, and was also the youngest of the group as they learned more about her.

As they ate their dinner, the decided to talk.

"So, what do you guys think we should do once we're out of the jungle?" Diane asked.

"I couldn't see what the biome beyond the tree-line was very clearly, but I think it was plains. That means we will find plenty of cows and other mobs to use for supplies. We might even find a village if one spawned in this world." Alyannie looked up at the thought of finding a village.

"Do you think that the villagers will actually talk, or will they just make those weird sounds like they normally do?"

Diane was quick to continue this line of thought. "Maybe we'll find some good deals with the villagers. I once met a blacksmith who would trade a diamond pickaxe for eleven Emeralds, and there was a priest who would enchant it for two more Emeralds!"

"Maybe other players will be there, and we can try to figure out what's going on." Chris put in.

"Well, if we want to make good progress tomorrow, we should get to bed soon!" Alice said. She stood up and placed a block of dirt in front of the door to stop anything from coming in while they slept.

The group all settled in for the night, and slept well knowing that they were making some progress in finding out what had happened to them.

{Elsewhere}

Most believed him to be a myth, and he preferred it that way. Let them say what they will, but Humans always have an interesting ability to muddle the truth and inflate falsehoods to the point where they are considered to be true. He turned his gaze toward the rising moon. "The mobs will arise soon." He said softly to himself.

He turned around and looked down from his position on the top of mountain. He could see a cluster of players that had taken refuge within a village. He supposed that villagers were the mobs that players would turn to for help.

He stepped of the edge of the mountain and began a rapid fall to the ground, he raised his arms to the side and his descent slowed to a crawl. He landed softly, making no noise. He raised his head, and started to walk forward, when in a flash, he was gone with no sign that he was ever there to begin with.

He reappeared at a large mansion that sat in the valley of several sheer mountains. It was the place that he called home, and a place few even knew existed. Two of those numbers were outside the front door, one of them very clearly annoyed, and the other was either unaware of the torment he was causing, or was doing it because of that reason.

The tallest of the two was a witch by the name Amira, and the shorter was not a mob, but something of an, experiment of his. The other person was known simply as Wolf (Though Amira preferred to call him Mut). Wolf's most noticeable feature was his eyes, which were white and glowed to a point they looked almost soulless; and yet they retained a trace of his humanity, showing his true origin. His messy blonde hair blew slightly in the breeze. Around his neck was a purple pendant around his neck, that was in the shape of a diamond, and like his eyes, had a glow to it.

The conversation between the two came to halt as he approached, and based on the sounds, it was about to get violent. "Glad to see you two are getting along" He said walking forward, no expression on face to tell if he was scolding them, or making a joke.

"I'm sorry!" they both said at the same moment, shooting a glare at each other.

"I have a job for both of you!" They both stood at attention, waiting for orders. "Amira, I need you to see what you can find out about What the Enderman are up too. Ever since the Empress conquered the End, they have been acting rather strangely." Amira nodded. "Wolf, I am sending you to the Nether to see what you can find. I have heard rumors that the Wither Skeletons are calling for war on the surface, and the Zombie Pig-men are following them. The last thing I need to deal with now is a war!" Wlof nodded, with a grin on his face. "Once you have enough information, report back to me!"

"Of course, Lord Herobrine!" They both said.

A.N.

I am back everyone.

I apologize for the wait, but the computer I normally write on decided to stop working, and so I have to use my families desktop, Which uses an out of date writing software that doesn't believe me when I say that Biome is a word. I would also like to take this moment to thank you all for your patients with me, and for continuing to read this story, it is my most successful one so far. On a different note, Please DO NOT send characters through the reviews anymore. I have been getting a lot of them lately, and while they are certainly good ones, I feel that by sending them by PM makes it easier for me to write them without people judging if they are in character based on the application. I think the only one who should be able to say if I portray a character well is the person who sent them in. It also makes it easier to respond to you, and to refer to them as I often must to make sure I am portraying them correctly.

I am still accepting oc's(especially mobs) So if you are interested, send me a PM.

Thank you all for reading, and for those of you who celebrate it, happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerly

The 25th Doctor.


	4. Chapter 5

Am I really Smarter?

Day 3,

one hour before dawn

{Valley Town}

Chemar was his name, but you can call him Chem. He looked around in a hurried way, then made a dash for it. He ducked down behind the side of a house, being careful to stay out of light of the torches. He looked over towards the library. He checked both ways. Then made a final dash to the Library, but tripped going up the stairs.

He inhaled sharply and had to suppress a pained grunt. He panicked and stood hid in the doorway as he heard the approach of one of the guards. It was one of the players that had moved in recently, he had red hair, and a cape that had a symbol of something that Chem thought looked like a flaming bird. Chem gulped, this guy was the leader of the players, and was the head of the towns new guard force.

Chem held his breath as the captain walked down the road. A few more steps and he definitely would see him. Chem sent a silent prayer to anyone who would listen to save him from this situation, when he felt a sharp tug on his collar and was pulled inside the library.

He landed on the floor as he was roughly thrown inside the building. He looked up and smiled innocently, his green eyes shining. Looking down on him was the towns librarian, Matthew, and he did not looked pleased. There was a knocking at the door, and he turned around answered.

"Mr. Matthew are you alright? I heard something over here." Chem didn't move, he knew that if Matthew told the captain he was in here, he was dead!

"I appreciate your concern captain, I was doing some organizing of new books and a the box fell over. You know how heavy those enchanting and crafting manuals can be." Chem couldn't tell if the captain was buying it or not, but he was holding his breath and hoping, his fingers crossed.

"All right, be careful. Have a nice morning Mr. Matthew!" The sound of the captain's boots were heard walking away.

"You as well Captain." Matthew closed the door, and slowly turned around to look at Chem. Chem tried to smile again, but it died pretty quickly when faced against the glare he was receiving.

"L-look, Matthew, I can explain-"

"You came here to steal more of my books and take them to your little cottage, knowing that security around the village has gotten tighter since the Captain took command of the players that were coming here! Knowing that if you were caught, you would be killed on sight! Honestly, you may have been given intelligence, but you're as stupid as any other Zombie!"

Chem looked down at the green skin on his hand. He kept looking down, unable to look the librarian in the eye. He knew he was right, it was stupid to try this. "I'm sorry Matthew!" Chem said, with tears starting to form in eyes. "You're right, I really was stupid trying to get in here these days. I-" He sniffled, "-I just wanted to see if you had any books on potion making! Some of my cows got hurt by a wolf, and I wanted to try and help them heal faster!" He sat and sobbed softly for a few moments. He could hear Matthew's foot steps walking over to the left, but he didn't look to confirm it.

He then heard Matthew step back in front of him. He opened his eyes to see the cover of a book in front of him.

"Here, this should give you the recipes you need to create a healing potion, just don't get any on you, remember that it hurts Zombies!" Chem reached out and took the book into his hands and looked up at Matthew again, who still looked pretty stern, but there was a softness to his eyes that he seemed to reserve for the young Zombie.

Chem wiped his tears on his sleeve and smiled. Matthew made a small one as well before saying "You know when you smile like that it makes you look even more like a girl than usual!" Chem blushed, but with anger, as well as embarrassment. "Anyway, I expect to have that book back in at least three weeks time, or I'll have to charge you an emerald for every day it's late!" Chem stood up, his head only reaching the villagers chest. He slipped off the bag he had strapped to his back, and carefully placed the book inside. He place the bag back were it belonged and looked down at his feet, where he realized that the reason he had tripped was that one of his straw sandals must have lost its strap and fallen off.

Chem looked at Matthew again, who was now over at a crafting, probably making his breakfast. Matthew turned to look at the boy. "Are you still here? The sun will rise soon, and if you get caught in that, my books might burn with you!" He said in an angry tone, but Chem just smiled.

"Thanks for being so awesome Matthew, I really appreciate all of it!" Chem peeked out the door to make sure the coast was clear. He saw his sandal halfway across the road. He quickly made a dash forward and grabbed it. He then made a bee line for the forest outside the village, not bothering if anyone saw him.

Matthew watched him go from the libraries window. He sighed with some relief that he got out of the village alright. "Be careful Chem, most people don't think twice about killing a Zombie, especially players!" He turned to his wooden bowl and proceeded to fill it with Mushroom stew for his breakfast.

{The Forest:Dawn, Day 4}

Chem made it under the shade of the trees just in time. He put a hand on the side of a tree and began to catch his breath. He looked back toward the village, and saw the growing amount of sunlight. "Sometimes, I really wish I had been born a creeper, they don't have to worry about sunlight!" he muttered to himself. After a few more moments, he took off the "newsboy hat" as Matthew had called it once, and wiped his brow, moving rouge strands of his long green hair from his face. After putting the cap back onto his head, he began to enjoy the walk back to his cottage.

As he reached about the halfway point he heard his stomach start to growl. "I hope that the bread is about done, I could really use something to eat!" He placed a hand on his stomach, and closed his eyes as he imagined the idea of eating his freshly baked bread, still warm from the furnace. This fantasy continued until he bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going!" He opened his eyes and realized that he was looking at a waist. He looked up, and was met by two glowing violet eyes.

Chem quickly backed away. He mentally shouted at himself for what he had just done. _'Way to go you idiot! You just looked an Enderman in the eye! Your dead!"_ He closed his eyes expecting to be torn apart, or whatever it was that Endermen did to their victims. But nothing happened. He dared to open his eyes slightly, and saw that the Endeman was just... gone. He looked around him to try and find it, but when he didn't he sighed in relief.

He turned to go back on the trail to his cottage, and saw it standing there, under one of the taller trees. Upon closer inspection, Chem realized that it actually looked like it might be a girl. She was dressed completely in black, with black pants, a black jacket with a high collar, and from what he could see, a necklace made from Enderpearls.

Chem swallowed, before deciding to speak. "H-Hi, what's your name?" She just looked at him, a blank look on her features. Chem mentally smacked himself again. _'Come on, are you that stupid? It's common courtesy to introduce yourself first, before you ask someone else's name, especially with girls!'_

Chem decidedto try again. "Um, my names Chemar, Chemar Nove! But you can just call me Chem, that's what most people call me!" _'Most being Matthew and the other Zombies!'_ Chem thought to himself. "Can you tell your name?"

He waited for what was likely a few seconds, but seemed to take an eternity. Finally, he heard something from her. "I'm sorry could you repeat that?" Chem asked.

She was suddenly in-front of him, causing him to fall backward in surprise. He felt his bag fall off his shoulder, and hoped that the book wasn't damaged. "My name Is Endria." She said in a soft monotone.

He looked up at her again, feeling very small when compared to her sheer height.

"It's nice to meet you, Endria." Chem said, offering a hand. She took it, and then pulled him up onto his feet. It took a moment to get balanced from the sudden pull upward. "Thanks." He smiled as he wiped down his trench coat, which was too big and went past his knees.

His stomach growled again, reminding him about the bread back home. "It was nice meeting you, but I have to get home, I have some bread in the furnace back home and I don't want it to burn! It was nice talking to you Endria!" He said as he started to run forward, but he stopped suddenly when he remembered his bag. He turned around to grab it, but saw that it, and Endria were both gone. "Huh, what?" He began to panic when he felt a light tapping on his shoulder. He turned around to see Endria standing in front of him holding his bag.

"You dropped this!" She said, extending the arm holding the bag.

Chem was surprised. "Oh, uh, thank you." He took the bag back and re-strapped it to his back, when he saw that Endria was slowly walking away. His conscience got the better of him. "Hey, if you want, you can come to my cottage! I have some food for breakfast, if you want some!" He said.

She turned around, then teleported right next to him again. "Alright." She said simply.

Chem once again remembered that his Bread was still baking. " Oh crap, then we better hurry, before My bread burns!" He started running down the trail again, with the Enderwoman following him at a slower pace.

A.N.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I recently received a new Character that gave me th chance to introduce a Mob oc that I had been waiting to introduce since Chapter two. So, here is a chapter from the mob perspective. Did you like these Characters? If so let me know in a review. I hope you all enjoy your this rare fast update, and I hope that you have a happy thanksgiving, and a happy December.

Sincerely

The 25th Doctor


	5. The power of trust

Our new Lives Chapter 6

Power of trust.

{Day 3, noon}

The Morning had started with the promise of sun, but by midday the sun had disappeared, and the rain had taken its place. Chris, Alice, Alyannie, Second and Diane marched through the falling drops of rain, their hair and clothes becoming wet and clinging to their skin.

The excitement they had felt at the prospect of finally exiting the jungle they had been traversing for the past two and a half days was somewhat diminished by the sudden downpour.

"I don't think it's going to stop any time soon." Alyannie said, looking at the sky. She and Chris liked nature, but being caught unprepared by the rain was something that even some of the most ardent of nature lovers would not enjoy.

Diane turned to Second, making sure that the rain wasn't bothering him. "How are you holding up buddy?" She asked bending down. Second bounced once into the air, making a splash as he landed onto the wet grass. "I'll take that as a doing okay." Diane smiled as he hopped into the air again.

After some more time spent walking, they saw smoke rising from a short distance away.

"If there is a fire in this rain, it can only mean that there is a house nearby!" Chris said, a smile forming on his face. The group picked up the pace, their moral increasing as they saw that there was a wheat field nearby. Next to the field was a fenced in pasture, with several cows grazing, ignoring the water from the sky.

At last the house was spotted. It was somewhat small, but the idea of any kind of shelter was a welcoming thought. They walked around to the front of the cottage, and Diane approached the door. She knocked on the door three times, and waited.

After a few seconds, the door opened, and the group felt a wave of warmth washed over them. Diane found that she was slightly looking over the head of the person who had opened the door. He was very young looking, along with looking rather feminine. He had green hair that fell over his head down to his shoulders, and green eyes that were wide open in surprise as he looked at the group of soggy travelers before him.

"Um... hi there." Diane said nervously. " We were wondering if we could come out of the rain for a bit?" The boy at the door turned to her. He looked at them all nervously, and seemed to be on the verge of refusing, but then he noticed Second, who had bounced his way to Diane's side.

He swallowed, and said; "Well, I guess you can come in, though it may be a bit cramped, I'm not used to having so many guests at once!" He stepped back inside, allowing the five to enter.

Once inside, the group all collectively looked around the small cottage, particularly at the fireplace, to which they all migrated. Their host looked at the group of players, and closed the door.

"Are any of you hungry? I've got some bread that I finished baking this morning." They all nodded.

"Thank you very much!" Diane said. "My name's Diane Curtis, by the way." She offered her hand.

"You can call me Chem, that's what most people call me!" returning the gesture.

Chem went to his kitchen area, and began to collect the bread that he and Endria had started on that morning. As he handed out the bread, he learned the other names of the group, though he paused slightly at Second, who bounced a few times in place in greeting.

"Wow, this might be the first time I've seen players being friends with mobs other than villagers!" Chem said, as he placed Second's piece of bread onto the floor in front of him, which the slime happily jumped onto, engulfing the food.

Alyannie looked over as he said this. "Are you a mob too Chem?" He stood up, and moved over to his own place near the fire.

"Yeah, I guess the skin kinda gives it away huh?" He smiled, though somewhat nervously. "I'm a Zombie, though unlike some of the others, I chose a peaceful life. Honestly, I think some fresh made bread tastes better than brains any day!" Alyannie then realized how nervous he really looked; though she found herself realizing that he had four armed and possibly dangerous players that may kill him at any point for him being a Zombie.

"Um... Sorry if we're making you feel nervous. I guess this a real leap of faith in trusting us." Chem looked at her in surprise.

"Yeah, I guess it may have been hard to refuse four possibly dangerous people at your door step asking for help." Alice said. "What made you let us in though, you seemed to be about to say no," Chem looked at her, then turned to Second.

"This guy right here!" Chem smiled at the slime. "He seemed to give you guys a good recommendation, so I decided to risk it. I'm just glad that the other guest I had today decided to leave before the rain started though. She was pretty tall, and would make this house feel even smaller!"

" Who was your earlier guest, a friend of yours?" Diane asked. Chem thought about about it for moment before answering.

"I'm not sure if I would call us friends, I just met her this morning. I accidentally ran into her while trying to get out of the sun, and she helped me make sure I didn't forget about the bag I was carrying. So I decided to invite her over for breakfast as a thank you." Chem stood up and went over to a chest in the corner of the kitchen. He emerged with more wheat, and some sugar. He placed them on the counter, then went over to an armer stand, wearing a large trench coat.

"Are you going out?" Chris asked, as he saw the young Zombie put on the coat, followed by a newspaper boy's cap.

"Yeah, I'm going to make a cake later, and I need some more milk. I also need to check on how one of my cows is doing. A wolf got in somehow, and one of them was hurt. I am doing what I can, but it was pretty serious!" Chem looked down at the floor for a minuet. "I should only be a couple of minuets!"

Chem picked up a pair of buckets, and walked out the door into the rain, closing it behind him.

The group sat and looked at one another. They all sat in silence, enjoying the warmth of the fire. After Chem had been gone for a few minuets, Alyannie stood up and looked out the window, trying to see the pasture.

"The field isn't too far away! I wonder if something happened to his cow?" She looked worried, waiting as time seem to tick by slowly, with Chem nowhere to be seen.

Diane stood up, and walked toward the door. "I'll go check on him to make sure he is okay. I feel like something may be wrong!" Diane opened the door and stepped outside. The rains had slowed somewhat, but were still present. She quickly walked to the other side of the cottage, and went to the gate of the pasture. After walking for a few seconds she saw that the cows had a barn like structure to take refuge in.

As she opened the gate, she noticed that none of the cows that had been grazing earlier were present. She half walked, half jogged to the barn, when she heard what sounded like Chem screaming. She ran to the opening of the barn, and selected her sword.

Inside the barn were two people; one was tall with messy black hair that was soaked from the rain. He was wearing a set of iron armor, with a iron sword in his hand. Next to him was another man, dressed in similar iron, but with fiery red hair. In front of them, backed into the corner of several bales of wheat ,was Chem.

The black haired man stepped forward, a cruel smirk on his face. "Now then, I believe we have you to thank for this fine supply of beef and leather!" His smirk grew even colder, as he moved slowly towards Chem. "Thanks to that new guard captain, getting supplies from the villagers is so much harder. But who knew that there was a herd of cows just a short walk away!" He reached out and picked Chem up off the ground by the collar of his shirt. "And now we get rid of you!"

He moved his sword back, preparing to stab it through Chem.

"Stop!" Diane shouted, simultaneously charging into the barn! The two men turned in surprise, and Chem fell to the ground. Diane swung her sword at the black haired man, but he blocked. He then regained his smirk as he returned with a swing of his own. Diane blocked the sword, but soon felt a searing pain in her right side as the red head slashed his sword at her waist. She put a hand to her injury, before being kicked backward by the black haired man. She fell to the ground, and her sword fell out of her grasp.

She opened her eyes to see the black haired man standing over her, his sword at her neck. Her eyes looked over at Chem, who was trembling against the wall. She saw the man above her raise his sword above his head, and she frantically tried to think of a way out. As the iron blade began its deadly swing downward, another scream was heard. The black haired man stopped his swing, and looked over to where he saw his friend being held in the air by a tall woman, wearing black.

"Endria!?" Chem said in surprise.

Endria pulled out a glowing purple sword, and quickly stabbed it into the red haired mans back. He fell to the ground, and stayed there, unmoving. The black haired man now stared at her in complete shock and terror. He now back away. "S-stay back!"

His leg bumped against Chem, and he quickly picked him up again, holding his sword against his neck. "S-s-stay back, or the zombie kid gets it!" The woman only stared, before vanishing, in puff of purple particles.

"H-huh? W-where did she-" He halted mid sentence as he felt the point of a sword in his back. Chem fell to the ground, and landed with a thud. He began to crawl over to where Diane was now sitting on her knees.

He wrapped his arms around her chest, and began to cry into her shirt, his body shaking from fear. Diane returned the embrace, and held Chem close to her, and began to cry herself. She looked over to Endria, who was now looking out towards the entrance of the barn, staying silent.

"Thank you." Diane said softly. Endria made no move to show that she had heard the gratitude.

Diane returned to the softly sobbing zombie in her arms, and simply held him, to let him know that he was safe, while Endria stood sentry, looking out upon the rain soaked field.

A.N.

Well, things took a darker tone in that last part, but there is a reason this is rated T. I would like to take this time to apologize for the lack of updates in December, college got in the way again. So to all of you, I hope you were able to enjoy your holidays, and your new year.

Please leave a review telling me your thoughts on this chapter, and where you think I need to improve. I admit that sword fights are not my strong point.

Finally to anyone who is interested, I would like some villain oc's, As we will be seeing some of our main villains in the next few chapters. They can be human or mob, but MAKE THEM VILLAINOUS! Don't just say they kick puppies for no reason! Give their villainy some reason, like ambition, pride, psychopathy, anything like that. When making a villain, follow the slandered app sheet, but with the following in mind:

Motive: What are they after?

Means: How do they plan to get what they want?

Loyalties: Are they loyal to a higher villain, or are they on their own side?

Fighting abilities: Are they fighters, thinkers, both?

As a final note, PM THE APPS TO ME! If one of these villains is a mob, they can any kind of mob, from Villager to Ender Dragon.

For the idea of context, here is how the mobs run things: The End is ruled by Empress Minerva Violet, the strongest and largest of the Ender Dragons. Most remaining Ender dragons are her children, and there are six of them.

The Nether is ruled by a republic, out of a city known as Lavaglow city. The governing body of the nether is a senate, with each race of the given a representative. No senator is more powerful then any of the others in term of political power.

The over-world is largely ungoverned, with individual mob settlements setting their laws and governments. The largest of these cities is Understone City, which is led by it's Mayor, the Creeper, Peat Moss. Moss is a progressive man, and encourages cooperation between players and Mobs, and believes in equal rights.

I think this authors note has gone on long enough. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope this will be a good year for us all.

Sincerly,

The 25th Doctor.


	6. Chapter 7

Our new lives

Chapter 7

{Day 4, Dawn}

{Outside of Valley town}

Alyannie walked some paces behind Alice and Chris, her head down. The three of them had decided to keep moving after Chem had told them about a village nearby, with several players already living there. Diane and Second had decided to remain behind to stay with Chem, who was still recovering from the events of the previous day, along with herself .

Diane had been the one to tell them of the bandit attack, and how they had slaughtered Chem's cow herd, and how they almost killed the two of them. She also told them of the Enderwoman who had saved them.

Alyannie had wanted to remain with them, but she had convinced her to go with the others toward the village. She looked down at the book in her hand. It was a manual filled potion recipes. Chem said he had borrowed it from the library in town that morning, planning to make something to help one of his cows that had been injured by a wolf. He said he wouldn't need it after what happened.

She looked up and saw the buildings a short distance away, but just couldn't work up the strength to smile, her mind going back to the young zombie.

"Hey, are you alright?" Alyannie turned her head and saw Alice walking beside her. "Are you thinking about Chem and Diane?"

The blonde haired girl looked back at the book she was carrying. "Is it that obvious?" Alice nodded.

"Look, I know it's hard to leave them like that. But we need to let the village know that dangerous people are nearby. Those two might not have been the only ones out there!" Alice placed a hand onto Alyannie's shoulder. "We can head back and check on them afterward, alright?" She smiled in a comforting way.

Alyannie soon found a small smile on her own face. "Thanks Alice, I needed that." Chris was waiting up ahead, and after being assured things were alright, the group entered the last leg of their walk. As they approached the town, they heard shouts, as people moved quickly within the town.

When they reached the outer edge of the city, they were met by a group of five players. The farthest two stood on one side each, and were both armed with bows. Two more stood closer to the center, with swords at the ready. Finally, in the center, stood someone who was obviously the leader, based on the fact that the men flanking him looked at him constantly waiting for orders.

"My name is Phoenix Shadow, and I am the sheriff around these parts. Mind if I ask you your business in our little town?" Alice and Chris both looked at Alyannie to answer him.

She brushed some hair from her face. "My name's Alyannie Smith. My friends and I spawned a few days south of here, on the other side of the Jungle. We were hoping to get some supplies, and maybe some news about what exactly happened." Phoenix studied her face for a few moments, before doing the same to Alice and Chris.

After a few seconds of silence, he raised his left hand. "Stand down guys, I think these three are alright." The men around him breathed sighs of relief as they lowered their weapons, and Alyannie released a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. Phoenix took a step towards them, "Are you three hungry? The farmers just brought in a harvest, and their should be some good food in the town square." He turned around, giving the group a view of orange cloak, embossed with image of a phoenix. "But if its clues about why any of us are here your after, I'm sorry to say we don't seem to have any yet."

As he began to walk away, a thought occurred to Alyannie. "Oh, before you go, can you tell us where the Library is?" Phoenix turned his head.

"Right over there! It's the building with large windows." He stopped walking and turned halfway around. "How did you know this town had one? Libraries don't always spawn in villages." His eyes narrowed slightly.

Alyannie tried to think quickly. "Oh, um..." Fortunately, Alice stepped in.

"we ran into some hostile players earlier who said something about stealing from a nearby town, and they mentioned a library book that they had stolen. We wanted to return it." Phoenix put a hand on his chin in thought.

"That might explain the noise I heard this morning... Could be that they were threatening Matthew to stay silent while they hid inside." He said to himself, almost too quietly for the trio to hear. "I'll have to tighten the patrols after dark!" he turned back to the three of them. "Alright. Be safe when your out there!" He turned back, and walked away, the men who had followed him were waiting ahead.

Alyannie sighed in relief. "Thanks for that Alice, that could have gotten hairy if we told him about Chem!" Alice started to lead the group towards the building Phoenix had pointed towards.

"Let's just hope we don't antagonize this guy. He seems to hold a lot of sway here with other players. Making him our enemy would be a bad idea!" They reached the library door and knocked, but heard no sounds from within. They knocked again, and then again, but silence was the only answer.

"Do you girls think he went out maybe?" Chris asked.

"Indeed he did young man!" The three all turned quickly to see a villager standing behind them, dressed in the white of a librarian. "Thank you for being patient enough to knock, and not just break down the door like some of these players I have come to know!" He approached the door and opened it, with the three players following him in. "Was there anything you needed in particular? I have quite the variety of books here, from encyclopedias, to the 'The little Creeper who cried Ocelot' though no one seems to know that one."

Alyannie reached into her inventory and pulled out the potion manual. "Actually, we wanted to return a book to you!" Matthew took the book, and his face paled slightly as he recognized it.

"How did you come by this book? I have never seen you here before!" His tone had turned cold, and he was now looking at them suspiciously.

"Chem gave it to us!" Alyannie said quickly "We're friends of his!" Matthew looked at her with that piercing stare that most librarians seemed able to use, the one that made you think twice about keeping a book too long.

"Is he alright?" He said finally.

"Yeah, some of our friends are looking after him right now. Something happened earlier, but he's safe!" She watched as Matthew relaxed slightly. He turned towards the shelves and looked for the proper place to place his book. After it was put away, he turned to players.

"Well then, care to explain what that undead trouble maker got himself into this time?"

A.N.

Hello Everyone. This chapter didn't get much done I suppose, but I have been dealing with stress from school, and annoyance with my computer. I still have plenty of room for mob OC's, but I really want mobs from the Nether, hero or villain.

I cannot make any promises, but I am going to try to get a chapter out on February 7th, because of reasons that I'll explain if it happens.

Please leave your thought in the reviews, and I will see you all hopefully on the 7th.

Sincerly

The 25th Doctor


	7. Valley Town's Hospitality

Chapter 8

{Valley town, town square}

{Day 3, dusk}

Alyannie walked into the square as everyone was else began to pack up for the night. The square had a large fountain in the square, with two columns of cobblestone standing straight on either side of the center, water pouring over from the top. She looked further around the square.

Using the fountain as a center point, several market stalls had been erected about the square, with each side having at least two stalls, and at most four. On the north side of the square was the church, where some villagers and even some players were coming and going. To the east was what was labeled as a bank, with the hours provided on a sign near the door. Alyannie had approached from the south, where the library was located next to the square.

The western most building seemed to be a restaurant of sorts. Several players were sitting in view of the front windows, and seemed to be enjoying some food and drink. It was at that moment Alyannie's stomach decided to remind her that it was time to eat.

She walked over to the front of the building, and saw that there was a sign listing the menu and the prices of each item. Alyannie browsed over the menu, then settled on a chicken sandwich. She opened her inventory, and saw that she had three emeralds. She walked to the door, where another sign said, 'Self seating, see an open chair? Grab it.'

She walked inside, and her eyes opened at how many people were inside. There had to be nearly two dozen people inside the restaurant, including the people behind the counter. She carefully moved her way across the floor of the restaurant until she reached the counter.

Behind the counter was a brown haired girl wearing a black short sleeved shirt, and blue jeans with hole in the right knee. The girl looked at Alyannie and smiled pleasantly. "Oh, I can't say I've seen you in here before! My names Bethany, how about yours?" Bethany continued smiling at her.

"I'm Alyannie Smith, it's a pleasure to meet you." Alyannie felt slightly off put about the smile she was receiving. It seemed almost too welcoming.

"Nice to meet you Alyannie! What would like for dinner tonight? Tell you what, since this your first time in, I'll give you your dinner on the house."

Alyannie shook her head "Oh no you don't have to do that! Really I have the Emeralds to pay for it!" As much as a free meal sounded nice, she couldn't let Bethany just give her the food for free, this was a business after all.

"Well, if your sure. What would you like?" Bethany said, her smile faltering only for a moment at Alyannie's refusal.

"I'll have the number seven please." Bethany wrote down the order and took it to a window in the back where she gave the note to someone. After a minuet, she returned with Alyannie's food in hand.

"Here you go, the number seven, chicken sandwich and warm Apple cider. That will be two emeralds!" Alyannie traded the emeralds for the food. "Thank you very much, feel free to sit anywhere you see an empty chair! Most of these people are friendly and won't mind a cute girl joining them!"

Alyannie couldn't help but notice the way Bethany had said 'cute', and blushed slightly. She thanked Bethany for the food, and began to look for a seat as far from the counter as she could.

Her eyes alighted upon a table next to the window that only had one occupant. He had white hair that stuck out to the sides, and the bangs covered one eye. He was wearing a white jacket, with jeans on his legs, and blue and white converse shoes. She approached the table and saw that he was reading a book while he was eating a sandwich of some kind.

"Um, excuse me?" He looked up, his uncovered eye was blue. "May I sit here?" He seemed to ponder the thought of company for a while, before waving a hand, inviting her to sit down. "Thanks."

Alyannie sat down, and placed her food on the table. Her table mate looked at her for a few more moments, before he closed his book. He reached under the table and opened a book bag, where he stored it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't interrupt you did I?" Alyannie asked, worried that she may have done just that.

"Not really." His voice was rather flat and monotone. "It's a pretty boring part of the book. It's just one those moments where the author needs to lay the groundwork for the climax, a pretty slow, but often essential part of story telling." Alyannie's widened at his response.

"I take it you read a lot then?" The boy nodded, his long hair bouncing slightly.

"I typically like mysteries and puzzles. Something a lot of people don't realize is that there are several elements to good mystery, something that authors often seem to struggle with." He took a drink of his cider.

Alyannie did the same, and was surprised at how good it tasted. It took all of her mental strength to not down it all right then. Instead, she slowly took a small bite of her sandwich. After the first bite, she quickly began to eat it more quickly, as she was reminded of how hungry she was. She stopped after a few moments, as she remembered that she had company. She looked at him, but he simply waved, his face not betraying any emotion. She took that as a sign that he didn't really care. She finished her food quickly, but tried to preserve some of her dignity.

"My names Alyannie, Alyannie Smith" She said introducing herself. The boy looked at her.

"You can call me Nel, my last name's not important." Alyannie looked at him curiously for a moment , before she saw that the sun had gone down. "Your new in town right?Do you have any lodgings?"Alyannie thought for a minuet, but realized that she didn't. She shook her head. "I see. Follow me, There is a public bunkhouse in town that a lot of players use until they build a house of there own."

Nel picked up his bag and stood up. He began to walk down the street, with Alyannie quickly chasing after him. The two walked for about a minuet when they reached a large building. The sign outside said 'Bunkhouse'. "Here we are!" Nel said, opening the door, and holding it open for her. She nodded her thanks as she walked in. She saw that the bunkhouse was made of several long hallways, with doors lining the walls, each leading into a different bed room.

Nel showed her to a clerk that was a villager, and helped her check in for the night. Once that was done, he lead her to her door. "Thanks for helping me so much Nel, I really appreciate it!" Alyannie smiled at her new friend, whom she could have sworn smiled slightly as well.

"It's no trouble. I'll probably see you later. Good night!" He turned around and walked down the hall until he stopped four doors down. He waved a goodbye and entered his room.

Alyannie turned and did the same. She stepped inside, and saw that it wasn't much. There was a polished stone tub filled with water for bathing on one side of the room, sectioned off by some curtains. The only other things worth noting were the torches on the walls that kept the room lit, and the bed that sat against the wall.

She lay down on the bed, feeling more comfortable than she had in three days. She thought briefly of her friends, Diane, Alice, Chris, Chem, and Second. She wondered how they were all doing, before she felt the exhaustion of the previous days journeys rapidly take her, and she fell into sleep.

A.N.

Hello everyone! If this chapter seems rushed, it kind of is. I really wanted to get something out to you guys by today (February 7th ). The reason being is that that day is my birthday! And I decided that I wanted to give a present to all of you who are reading this something because I really appreciate all of you. If you are wondering why Alyannie starts most chapters, it's mainly because she is one of the easier characters for me to write. Let me know how I handled things this chapter, how I need to improve, and let me know what you might like to see in the future.

Sincerely

The 25th Doctor


	8. A grand Announcement

Our new lives

Disclaimer: I do not own Minecraft or many of the characters in this story. Mincraft is owned by Microsoft, and most of the oc's in this story are the property of the people who offered them to me.

A Grand Announcement.

{Day 4, close to midnight}

{Chem's cottage.}

Chem sat down against the wall of his house. His hands were linked together as looked around his small house. On the bed was Diane. Chem had insisted she use it, saying that he wasn't tired. She protested a fair bit, but the combined strength of the past few days hard work, mixed with the emotional trauma of the previous day eventually overwhelmed her.

Within seconds of laying her head onto the pillow, she was in dreamland. Chem sighed as he watched her. He was glad that she had stayed behind, but there was something else too, though he couldn't tell what it was. Looking at her, sleeping so peacefully, made him feel odd. Not in a bad way! But more like, it filled him with a feeling of contentment.

He turned his gaze over to the Enderwoman standing by his dining room window. Endria seemed to do that a lot. She would just stare off into the distance, leaving it impossible for anyone to try and guess what she was thinking. He lowered his gaze to the ground, the clock on the wall showed it was now he heard a knocking at his door.

He looked up as the knocking continued. He looked at Endria, who had also turned towards the sound. She nodded slightly, and reached for her sword. Chem gulped, and stood up to approach the door. He slowly opened it, and saw another woman standing on the other side. She wore long robes colored violet, with a black shirt and pants beneath it. On top of her very red hair, sat a witches cap.

She looked down on the young zombie, and smiled. "Hello young man, are your parents home?"

It took a moment for Chem to answer. "Um... I live here by myself." The witch raised a hand to her chin, and looked right and left. She turned her attention back towards Chem.

"Oh really? Well aren't a strong young man living on his own out here?" She bent down to his height and continued smiling, her eyes closed. "Tell me, have you met any players recently? It's very important that you tell me the truth!"

Chem was staring to fell afraid, this woman was definitely up to something. "Y-y-yeah, I've seen a few. I go down to the nearby village a lot. One of the villagers is my friend.!" This wasn't a lie, he had seen plenty of players when visiting Matthew.

The woman seemed surprised at this however. "Oh really? A zombie and a villager becoming friends? Next thing I know dogs and cats will be living together, or maybe the Mut will actually get something done right!" She shook her head.

She turned back to Chem, opening her ice blue eyes. She reached out a hand and lightly touched his face, her touch as just as cold as ice as well. "Well, I do hope you will be careful young one, players are not afraid to take what not theirs!" As she said this Chem remembered the men that had attacked him and Diane in the barn. The woman must have seen something change in his face, as she drew closer. "You know what I'm talking about don't you? The fear they inspire in the hearts of all mobs, the mindless blood lust that sends them to destroy and kill everything in their path, after all, to them this is just a game, their lives take priority over yours. They'll do what ever it takes to survive, even going so far as to kill each other!" She retracted her hand and stood up. "We face a great threat my young friend, as do all mobs. But rest assured, lord Herobrine seeks to send the players away, and protect all of us from them, and their influence." She turned around and began to walk away. She stopped a few steps away from the door. She turned her head and looked at Chem again, then vanished as she walked into the shadows of the trees.

Chem stood there, not knowing what to do. He jumped as a hand fell onto his shoulder. He looked up and saw Endria's purple gaze meeting his own. "Did you hear all of that?" She nodded.

"Many mobs still hold grudges against players for all that they have down to us, friends, and family. Expecting them to forgive and forget so easily is about as pointless as telling water to flow uphill." She said in her monotone voice. Chem looked at the ground again. "Don't worry, Diane isn't like that. Some players are bad, but not all of them, probably not even half of them are evil."

Chem looked at her, surprise covering his face. He opened and closed his mouth several times, before finally saying, "Thanks, Endria. I really needed that." They were about to turn back inside when something dropped out of the sky.

Chem took a closer look, and found that it was a book, and the cover was marked "Announcement for all players!" Chem quickly picked it up and ran inside. He jumped onto the bed, and began to shake the sleeping girl. "Diane! Diane wake up! It's important!"

The girl opened her eyes, and fell off the bed in her hurry to move. Laying face down on the floor, she picked her head up, and looked at the two mobs. "What is it? Are the others back yet? Are we under attack?" She said as she stood up.

"I think we may finally have a clue to whats going on, and why your here!" He showed her the book.

She took it and read the cover. She quickly opened it and began to read aloud:

"Dear Players:

I trust you have begun to acclimate to your new surroundings, begun to make new friends, as well as enemies. I am sure that many of you have asked the question of how you came to be here, and why you brought here. Well, This message is to tell you where you can find the answers to these questions. Attached to this book is a map that leads to a marked point. You will know if you are close, as the location will be marked with a beacon. Tread carefully, as the road will be filled with danger. But don't drag your feet, the answer will only be there until the fifteenth day. You have ten days to discover the truth.

Good luck, I look forward to meeting anyone who makes it."

Signed,

The Marionette Master.

A.N.

Hello everyone. This chapter is a bit late because of college work. I hope this chapter is enough to keep you going until the next one. Let me know what you think in the reviews, and while your at it, why not guess how this new name, The Marionette Master is involved with what happened? Is he/she really the master, or is their someone else pulling the strings? We will see if our hero's can find the truth in time.

Sincerely,

The 25th Doctor.


	9. Chapter 10

Watching from a distance.

Disclaimer: Same disclaimer still applies.

{Day 5, before dawn}

{Outskirts of Valley town}

The town was like a beehive. After the announcement went out, most had forgotten the idea of sleep, and were now in a panic. Captain Phoenix was doing his best to maintain order, but with somewhere close to seventy five players in the town, it was difficult for him and some fifteen guardsmen to maintain order. Alyannie was still in the public dorms, protecting the items that She, Chris, Alice and Diane had collected. Some of the more desperate players had resorted to looting from others to make up for what they were missing. After smacking away another girl, she sighed and collected all of the items she had been given and made her way out of the building.

She regretted this decision almost immediately, as other players were running about in total panic. One of them charged into her, sending both of them to ground. She grunted upon the impact, and opened her eyes to see who had run into her. Her eyes widened as she saw that it was Chris, who looked just as surprised as she was. "Chris!" She said.

"Alyannie! Oh man, am I glad I found you!" He stood up and offered her a hand up. Once they were both standing, the sounds of the chaos around them returned to their thoughts. The two began the process of fighting to get through the crowd to a place with some semblance of order. After a about a minute of walking, they reached the library, which was mostly deserted, except for Matthew. They knocked on the door after they found that it was locked. Matthew looked through the window of the door, and then opened the door before grabbing the two of them and closing it behind them.

One inside, Alyannie saw someone inside she didn't expect. Chem was sitting just below the window looking out on the chaos in the streets.

"Chem? What are you doing here? I thought it was dangerous for you to come to town?!" The young zombie turned around, and smiled a bit at them.

"Are you kidding? With everything going on, no one even looked at me twice. If they even saw me that is." Chem looked over at Matthew. "The good news is Matthew can keep his head in this mess."

"How's Diane? Is She okay?" Alyannie asked. Chem looked back at her.

"I left her back at the cottage with Endria. I don't think she and Second would do very well in all this mess." He said, gesturing to the window.

"That sounds like a good call." Chris said, moving over to the window and seeing two players fight over a few loaves of bread. "Geeze, this is a complete disaster!" Matthew joined him next to the window.

"I have been watching this go on all night since the announcement went out. I can only wonder how bad it is for the players who don't have captain Phoenix or his guards. I can only wonder how many traps this Marionette Master has prepared, and how many players are falling into them now."

{Meanwhile}

{Understone City, Iron Mines}

Twelve individuals dressed entirely in Iron armor walked through the winding caverns that made up the iron mines beneath Understone City. A few workers who were pulling the night shift stopped their work to watch them pass by. Half of them were Skeletons, along with two Creepers, Two zombies, a Spider, and a Blaze. The leader of the group called for a halt as they approached the mining shop, a small building run by a creeper that sold mining supplies to the workers, as well as helping to educate any rookies on he finer points of mining ore.. She gestured to the Blaze and one of the Creepers. The leader, in addition to her iron armor, had a scarf covering much of the left side of her face. At her waist was a sword, and on her back was a bow. Her hair was a deep grey, and was cut rather short with spiked tips. The Blaze meanwhile, had long flowing yellow hair, and instead of a sword at her side, she had several Blaze rods strapped to her belt. The creeper seemed to find a happy medium, having shoulder length orange hair that fell neatly behind his shoulders. He had a regulation sword at his side, but like any Creeper, he could create an explosion and recover after a few minutes.

The Skeleton was Shireen Marrow, the Blaze was Rachel Ember, and the Creeper was Danial Moss. All three had something in common in that they were all related to someone famous or important. Shireen's Brother, Jimmy was a famous musician, and was the lead singer of "The Skeleton Crew" . Rachel was the daughter of a Senator in the Nether, Jacklyn Ember. And finally, Danial's father was the mayor of Understone City.

Shireen opened the door and stepped inside, followed closely by Danial and Rachel. The store was somewhat small, with a few shelves filling the floor space. The shelves were lined with pickaxes and shovels, as well as various ore samples. Near the back of the store, was a three sided counter, with a chest behind it, likely for storing money. On the wall behind the counter, were several framed maps of the different sections of the the counter of the store was a Creeper with large glasses sitting on his face. He looked rather average for a Creeper really, besides those glasses. His looks didn't matter though, not nearly as much as the information he might be holding. Shireen nodded at Danial to take the lead. He returned the lead and approached the counter, where the Creeper focused his attention on him as opposed to the supply ledger he had previously been going over with a pen. "Can I help you?" He asked.

"Are you Mr. Kershan?" The store keeper nodded. "Then yes, you can. Some of the miners reported seeing strange sights here in the mines, and there are rumors that it's either Endermen, or humans." Kershan blinked twice at the word humans, but said nothing. "We have also received word that you may have been selling supplies to these strange beings. Is there any merit to these rumors Mr. Kershan?" Kershan adjusted his glasses, and placed his hand on the counter, slightly pushing the stock book he had been going over slightly further out of sight.

"Well, sir, I have not seen any sign of human activity! But I have seen some Endermen in my shop. They asked for some maps to the riches iron veins I could sell them, and said that they were going to need the iron for some purpose they couldn't tell me. They even flashed the Empress's royal seal to show they meant business!" Danial's eyes widened at this revelation, but before he could speak next, captain Shireen stepped in.

"Why was the Empress sending men into the Understone Mines for her iron?" She asked as she quickly walked towards the counter. "And more importantly, why did neither you or these Endermen inform the Miner's Guild about this mining? That iron is the property of the Understone City Government, and the Endermen had no right to mine it!" She became increasingly frustrated as she went on, leaning over the counter into Kershan's face. Kershan was beginning to look somewhat scared.

"W-w-well, how was I to know that they hadn't? I mean, they were in big hurry, I didn't really have time for questions, and I didn't want to give them a reason to test out their swords..." Shireen looked ready to kill something.

"And they were carrying swords?!" Kershan nodded, looking well and truly afraid now.

"Well, they might still be there." The three of them looked over to the other side of the counter where Rachel was standing, looking over the Ledgers. "Looks like he only sold them the supplies a few days ago. We might still be able to catch up with them if we hurry!"

Shireen nodded, and looked back at Kershan. "We will be needing copies of the maps you sold them. Give them to us now, and we might not arrest you for illegally selling Understone iron!" Kershan did not need to be told twice. He quickly pulled out copies of the maps and pointed at where the Endermen had most likely gone.

Shireen quickly stormed out of the store, Diane and Rachel running after her, as she gathered her men . Tonight she was going to get some answers, and she right now she was more than willing to beat those answers out of a few Endermen.

A.N.

Hello everyone. First, I would like to apologize the month long absence, I had finals to prepare for. But now my college semester is over, and aside from some scheduled events in the summer, I should be able to dedicate more time to writing. Let me know what you think of this chapter, and if you perhaps find a reference or two I might have hidden in this one.

That is all for now, once again I'm sorry for the delay.

Please let me know what you think in the reviews. If you have a character to submit, please send it to my PM inbox, an I'll try to get back to you.

Sincerely

The 25th Doctor


	10. Unpleasent Answers

Unpleasant Answers

Disclaimer: Still unchanged

{Understone Iron Mines}

{Day five; five hours to dawn}

The group of guardsmen walked two by two through the winding tunnels of the Understone iron mines. Some of the tunnels looked odd, like they hadn't naturally formed. Shireen remembered that Endermen were to tall to enter an area less than three blocks high, so they had likely made these tunnels artificially, moving the blocks one by one until they could get through. Shireen was grateful that she had someone like Rachel in her party; even though they could see in the dark rather well, it didn't hurt to have someone who could light the way and give warning when approaching chasms. More than once, one of her soldiers had almost fallen because of a misstep, but were saved by the man next to them.

Shireen called for a full halt, and pulled out the map they had been following up to now. Rachel stood next to her and lighted one of her Blaze Rods, creating a bright orange glow that made many of the company shield their eyes from the sudden brightness. Shireen looked around the lit tunnel of stone, watching the orange light dance with the shadows that she and men cast upon the walls and ceiling.

She turned her gaze to the map, carefully checking and double checking the route they had taken to get here. She looked up from the map and turned toward the way forward, a narrow tunnel that was only a few blocks tall. ' _Just tall enough for an Enderman!'_ She thought. ' _I wonder if they made these tunnels too?'_ She looked back to the way they came, seeing the illuminated faces of her soldiers. The forward two were a skeleton and the spider, followed by the other races, each one paired with a skeleton. There were some in the government that complained about the fact that skeletons made up the majority of the military, but it was a simple fact. Shireen really didn't care one way or the other about the race in her soldiers. She only cared that they carried out the responsibilities expected of them as guardsmen.

She once again returned her gaze to the map, before returning it to her pack. She raised her hand and signaled for the march to resume. They all entered into a single file line as they entered the narrow tunnel up ahead. Rachel went in first, holding her blaze rod forward. Shireen followed closely behind. As she walked ahead, careful to avoid any loose stones, her eye couldn't help but travel to the back of Rachel's head. The orange of her hair was cast into shadow by the fire she was holding. Shireen couldn't quite see her face, but she began to imagine the look of determination the Blaze girls face. While Shireen thought about this, her eye drifted downwards toward her waist, a place hidden by her iron armor. Shireen then realized that she was staring. She was grateful for both the darkness of the tunnel and the fact that most of her men were behind her; because she felt a blush appear on her face.

She shook her head, clearing her head. _'I need to stay focused! I'm a captain of the guard! Not some schoolgirl!'_ She was snapped out of her thoughts when Rachel abruptly stopped. She felt her body connect with the iron of Rachel's armor, creating a metallic clang that echoed through out the tunnel. Rachel turned her head around, her expression surprised and annoyed at the same time. Shireen quietly scolded herself before looking Rachel in the eye, resisting the urge to note their amber color.

"Sorry captain, but we have a problem." Rachel said, the annoyed look that appeared in her eye disappeared as quickly as it came, but was not unnoticed by Shireen.

"What is it Sergeant?" Shireen said quietly. Instead of speaking, she faced forward and raised her blaze rod. She then swept it through the air twice, releasing two balls of fire that flew forward. Both of them flew off into the darkness; revealing no walls or ceiling, and only an endless stretch of the stone floor, their light starting strong, then becoming faint, before both disappeared into the darkness. After some seconds of silence, there was still no sound to indicate the fireballs had made an impact. "I see..." Shireen walked out of the tunnel behind Rachel, and stood in the empty abyss. She pulled out the map again, beckoning Rachel over.

Shireen scowled as she looked at where they were. "These Endermen are really looking to mine this vein dry. They took the entire cave!"

"I knew that most Endermen were thorough, but this is something else!" One of the skeleton guards said, sheer awe and shock in his voice. Shireen scowl deepened until she heard Danial speaking to his fellow Creeper.

"Why go to all this trouble? There might have been a lot of iron here, but why take the whole mine, stone and all? Why strip it bare?" Shireen then felt something click.

"What if this iron is just a red herring?!"

"Well done Captain! I can see why you reached your rank." several figures appeared suddenly around them. Each one appearing where there had previously empty space. Silence followed their arrival, interrupted only by the sound of the guards drawing their swords. One of them began to clap their hands.

His purple eyes glowed in the darkness, though he was simply one of many pairs of eyes in the darkness. Suddenly Shireen felt a powerful force slam into the left side of her face. She fell to the ground, her sword flying from her hand. She felt her her head hit the hard stone. As she tried to stand up, she heard the sounds of fighting. She turned onto her back an tried to stand up, but felt someone grab her by the hair and pull her up. She felt someones breath on her neck as whoever it was leaned in close, and began to whisper. "Do you hear that sound of men dying? I always loved that sound. Thankfully, my mother is nice enough to let me indulge in my little hobby." Shireen tried to see what was happening. She could see some of her men fighting, but most of them were on the floor, not moving.

Shireen suddenly felt the grip on her hair release, while hearing a pained grunt escape her captor. She saw a brief flash of orange and red, before she felt another hand pull her up, this time by the arm. "Captain, we have to move. Now!" Shireen shook herself to clear her head.

"Your right, but we won't be able to get back the way we came!" She quickly scanned the area as best as she could. She then looked up, and could just barely see the ceiling. "You can fly right?" Rachel looked at her, bewildered.

"Yeah, well more like hovering straight up or down!" Shireen then carefully considered her options.

"Can you carry me up to the ceiling?" Rachel looked at her again.

"I don't know, maybe? It depends on how heavy you are! Not to mention we'll shine like Glowstone once I take off!" The Blaze blinked in surprise when she felt Shireen grab onto her.

"I'll think of something once we're up, now go!" Rachel hesitated a moment, before much of her body began to glow with fire, the blaze rods at her belt broke free and began to orbit her as she ascended into the air. Shireen's arm was linked with hers, and she felt herself dangle as her feet left the ground. The Endermen stopped their attack as they watched the duo climb through the air.

"Hey, they aren't chasing us.!" Rachel said. Shireen smiled slightly, glad that her theory had proven true.

"I was right, they need a solid ground to land on when they teleport! Now we can breath for a moment!"

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one carrying a woman in a suit of iron armor!" Shireen thought for a moment, before she began to work on the clasp of her armor. "Hey, stop squirming, what are you-?" Rachel froze as she saw Shireen remove her iron chest plate and toss it to the ground, where it made a resounding clang in the present silence of the cavern. This was followed by two more as her boots fell and hit the ground. She finally unclasped her leg armor, and sent the last two pieces of her armor falling to the ground.

"Get us up to the ceiling! I can dig us a way out!" Rachel wordlessly followed her orders. Shireen pulled out a pickax that she had thought to equip her team with in case of a mining accident. Once within range, she began to dig at the block directly above Rachel. After they had climbed seven blocks or so, Rachel began to speak.

"Hey captain," She paused to catch her breath. "Can we take a break?" Shireen nodded, and began to dig a landing spot in the wall. She dug one block below her, then the block above that was at her altitude.

"Rachel, I'm about to step off, are you ready?" Rachel nodded, her breath becoming more ragged. Shireen landed softly, then quickly dug a spot next to her to accommodate Rachel. Once the spot was finished, Rachel all but collapsed onto it, her flaming body growing increasingly dim. For a while, the only sound between them was heavy breathing, until Rachel started to speak. "You know, 'huff' what 'huff' Captain? I 'huff' think that might have 'huff' been the 'huff' first time you 'huff' called me by my 'huff' first name!" Shireen thought about that statement, and smiled as she realized the truth of it.

"I think your right. Not exactly the scenario I had pictured for that moment."

"Me neither." Both girls laughed softly, until falling silently as the gravity of the situation began to set in. "Do you think anyone else made it out?" Rachel asked quietly. Her head down. Shireen hesitated, then put a hand onto her shoulder.

"It's possible. We weren't far from the entrance when they appeared." She knew it was as weak as it was unlikely, but now was not the time for that.

"Yeah, you're right." Even though she was smiling, Shireen could see the tears rolling down Rachel's eyes. She lightly ran her hand up and down Rachel's shoulder in a comforting manner, until a third voice shouted at them from below.

"Helloooo?" Shireen recognized it as the voice of the man who had grabbed her at the start of the fight. "If you can hear me, guess what? One of your men is still alive!" They both widened their eyes. "do you want proof, here ya go!" Suddenly screaming filled the air, and both women know to whom that voice belonged; Danial. "Tell ya what, if ya come down here, we'll let you keep him as a reminder of how badly we kicked your asses!" The sounds of teleporting could be heard, but neither woman could tell if that meant they were leaving, or if more had come. Rachel stood up suddenly.

"Your not going to-" Shireen began, before Rachel shoved a pickax into her arms.

"Here, this is the one you gave me. Go ahead and start digging a tunnel out of here. If I don't come back, you have mine if yours breaks!" Before the captain could protest, Rachel jumped forward , and fell into the hole. Shireen crawled to the edge of her platform and looked down trying to see what was happening. She saw a brief blast of fire as Rachel lit herself up again, and saw her send several fire balls towards the ground. Several Endermen teleported out of the way as the flaming projectiles flew towards them. She was too high up to see if Daniel was down there still, when she heard an explosion.

What followed was a stream of profanity from the Endermen who had been shouting, and some a increasingly bright dot that soon focused into Rachel carrying Danial. As the two began to get closer, Shireen quickly dug a new position on the platform. When the two landed, Rachel began to explain.

"So it turns out it was a trap, so they started shooting arrows at me, what they didn't count on though was the fact I could block arrows with fire balls. And with gravity on my side, they would keep falling. Then I remembered that if a Creeper catches fire, they detonate. So once I found Danny boy here," She slapped him in the back, causing him to groan. "I shout a fireball at him, made a big explosion and now here we are!" Shireen was glad to see that Rachel was getting her spirit back.

"Do you still have your pickax Danial?" He looked up and nodded. "Good, because we need to dig up to the surface and make it back to Understone from there! It's the only way we can lose those Endermen for sure! Any problems with that?" When neither of them raised an objection, she gave Rachel's pickax back to her. "Good! Then let's get started!"

A.N.

Hello everyone. This is just what happens when I've had a good day and still have time to write. I know that this chapter is a little light on dialogue, but I tried to set the scene a bit more by being more descriptive. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please let me know what you think of the length, since this chapter was twice as long as the others. Let me know if you want more like this, or if you prefer the shorter chapters.

Hope you enjoyed the new chapter!

Sincerely

The 25th doctor

P.S.

If you left a review for the last chapter, it seems that the website did not register it. A few hours before posting, there were 39 reviews, now their are only 34. I do not know what is happening.


	11. Memories and a morning Swim

Memories and morning a swim.

Disclaimer: Same as always.

{Day five, Dawn}

{Valley town; Library}

Dawn began to break over the grassy fields that surrounded Valley town. Meandering mobs that had wandered about the outskirts of the town now retreated to the tree line of the nearby forest. As the light of the sun began to illuminate the Library, Chris nudged Chem who was sitting next to him, having fallen into a doze while he waited for the chance to get back to his cottege. "The sun's starting to rise, you better get home before you're stuck here for the day!"

He nodded and leaned over to pick up his satchel that he had laid next him when he sat down Placing it over his shoulder, he walked over to the door, before turning around. "What should I tell Diane? What are you guys planning to do now?" Chris looked at the sleeping forms of Alice and Alyannie, and scrunched his brow. He turned towards the young zombie.

"Just tell her that we're alright, and that we'll send someone to get her when we have a better plan. We're not going anywhere until we do!" Chem nodded. He opened the door slightly and quickly looked to see if the coast was clear. He took a deep breath and made a dash out the door, holding tightly to his mail carrier's cap with one hand, and was quickly on the way home. Chris walked up towards the library's large window and watched as Chem came into sight. He began to worry when he saw just how far the zombie had left to run, and how little time he had left. His eyes widened when he saw Chem fall to his knees. He still was far from safety, and was know being bathed in the light of the sun. Chris was about to make a run for the door, when suddenly, a tall woman appeared in front of him in flash of purple particles. She placed her hands on his shoulders, and both of them vanished in another purple flash.

"That kid needs to stop pushing his luck like that!" Chris jumped as he realized that the Librarian Matthew was standing beside him. He looked Chris, "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." Chris exhaled slightly before smiling.

"It's fine, I was just worried about Chem. That was really too close for comfort!" Matthew looked out the window again in the direction of the forest, before bowing his head slightly.

"You are right about that! Chem has always been reckless for as long as I have known him, but this is something else." He turned away from the window and walked over to one of the chests that sat against the wall.

"How long have you known Chem? it does seem odd that a Villager and a Zombie would get along at all." Matthew opened and dug through the chest a bit before pulling out some uncooked beef.

"I first met Chem a few weeks ago. It was a good while before this whole fiasco occurred with this Marionette Master and whatever it is they are planning." He paused while he fished some coal out of another chest. "One night, I was closing up the library and preparing to turn in for the night, when there was a knocking at my door. Naturally, I assumed that it must be a zombie, since no one from the village would knock on my door at night. We villagers have a code of hospitality that if someone needs a place to stay for a night, we give it to them. Had it been a villager, they would have stormed in and slammed the door shut behind them." He walked over to the furnace and placed the beef in the top slot and the coal in the bottom slot. The fire sprang to life in the stone device, and began to happily consume the coal that had been offered to it.

"So what happened next? Was Chem the one knocking on the door?" Chris asked, sitting down at one of the tables guests would use reading. Matthew walked over and joined him sitting on the other side of the table.

" I panicked at that time. We didn't have Captain Phoenix or any Iron Golems for defense at the time, so the only thing I could think of was to grab some books and be prepared to start throwing them. Then I heard a voice, asking if they could come in. I was so shocked I dropped my improvised weapons on the spot. I carefully approached the door, and looked out. I saw no one there. I looked down, and I saw a mass of green hair atop a green skinned boy. 'What do you want?' I asked him. 'I want to learn how to read!' He replied. This was something I had never seen or heard of! A zombie capable of not only speaking coherently, but also wanting to become literate? I don't know why, but I cautiously opened the door for him, and he stepped inside. And what followed was him coming by almost every night for reading lessons. I taught him his letters, and made sure that he could write as well as read them. He should great potential, soaking up knowledge like a sponge in water. He was always exited to see what he was going to learn next. He eventually learned enough to read a book on how to build his own house, how to raise livestock, how to create a garden." Matthew smiled a bit at the memories. "I remember how happy he was when he baked his first cake. He brought it over to show me, and from the taste, I sensed the same potential, the same spark of energetic prowess. He may be smart, but he also tends to show his age at times. He groans when he can't have is way, and he makes stupid decisions! But I still can't help but worry about him sometimes. And with this new crises at our door , I only hope we all come out of it alright!" As Matthew finished speaking, he walked back over to the furnace and removed the now finished Steaks. "Not a perfect breakfast, I know. But I think you and your friends will need the strength. I feel like this is going to get worse before it gets better!"

{The Woods near Valley town}

{Soon after dawn}

Chem had never felt pain like had a few moments ago. Almost immediately after he broke from the shade of the library, he began to feel the heat of the sun on skin, a fire waiting to start from within. He was almost halfway to the tree line when his legs gave out, the pain was so great. He felt the heat that the flames would soon produce, his body becoming hotter then a furnace. He felt sweat appear on his body in a desperate attempt to cool off, his breathing already heavy from his sprinting was becoming harder to control. He began to think that he was going to die, that he was going to burst into flames, without being able to pass on Chris's message to Diane. His thoughts then turned to Matthew, and he remembered how Matthew would berate him whenever he did something stupid like running in sunlight. ' _I guess you were right Matthew!'_ Chem thought, feeling the searing pain fill his entire body. ' _I really am just a stupid idiot!'_ Chem thought he saw something in front of him but he shut his eyes tightly closed as the pain became to much to bear, when he felt cold hands touch his shoulders. He opened one eye slightly, and saw a black colored sleeve that bridged the gap between his shoulder and the owner of the arm holding him.

Then everything changed. Chem felt like he was floating in a lake, but he didn't feel any water around him. He tried to breath, but there was nothing there, his lungs couldn't draw on anything. He tried to move, but his body felt stuck in the position it was in. Just as he began to fear that he would die here from suffocation, he felt the world return to normal, his lungs immediately drawing upon the air that was around him.

Chem swore he had never felt so good to be able breath freely like that. He then noticed that the burning in his body was still quite prevalent, when he felt a pair of hands shove him sideways. His eyes widened as much as they could when they saw Endria standing there, with her arms outstretched , palms forward. Chem only had a moment to process this however, as he soon fell into a large body of water. He felt the heat of the sun disappear, to be replaced with the cool water. Chem would have enjoyed the blissful relief for a while longer, when he remembered that he needed to breath. He quickly swam to the surface of the water and began to quickly catch his breath. He looked around and saw that he was in a lake. In fact, it wasn't far from his cottage.

He swam to a shallower section of the small lake he found himself in, and then stepped onto the shore, his wet clothes creating small waterfalls as he walked further inland. Endria reappeared in front of him, holding his bag, and his cap. "Sorry, I had to find the best way to stop the sun from killing you." She said in her monotone voice.

"And that was dropping me in a lake?!" She nodded.

"It's what I see other zombies do when they are avoiding the sun! Did it work?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

Chem took off his trench coat and shook it a bit to get rid of some of the water. He scowled slightly when he answered. "Well... yes it did. But a little warning would have been appreciated!" He sighed and put his jacket over his shoulder with one hand. "I guess it's better then dieing though. And... thank you, Endria. I really owe you for this!" The enderwoman tilted her head in the other direction, before pointing in a direction to their right.

"Diane is waiting for us, she is with Second waiting for news from town. We should not keep her waiting!" Endria then turned and began walking, with the soaking wet Chem forced to run after her to catch up. This was not the morning he had imagined when he set out earlier, but he was still alive, so the day had a chance to improve thankfully.

A.N.

I apologize for the long wait everyone, real life continues to hinder my writing. But here you are, a chapter that I decided to give to Chem and Matthew because I wanted to explore their relationship a bit more. I will keep this note short and simply ask that you leave a review with your thoughts, and let me know where you think I need to improve.

Thank you very much for reading and making this my most popular story so far.

Sincerely

The 25th Doctor.

P.S.

If you submitted a character that has yet to appear, My plan is to have them appear in the next chapter. The one pulling the strings is waiting, and time is not on our hero's side.


	12. Chapter 13

**Going for a walk.**

Disclaimer: Same as always.

{Valley town Square}

{day 5: Morning}

After leaving the library, the group all decided to move towards the square. Alyannie couldn't help but compare it to yesterday. The once populated center of town that had previously been the gathering site for so many of the towns inhabitants now sat empty, devoid of sound. They walked up to the fountain that sat in the center of the town, when they finally heard a voice.

"finally, some people who didn't desert the town!" They all turned towards the voice, and saw the approach of Captain Phoenix. His eyes had dark shadows under them, and his hair looked rather disheveled. Despite his tired appearance, he looked relieved to see them. He approached the group. "Glad to see that there are more of us that stayed together! Most of the players gathered here ran off during the chaos with whatever they could get their hands on." As Phoenix finished his sentence, they saw another person emerge from one of the buildings. Alyannie recognized him as the man she had sat with at the restaurant the previous day.

"Nel, over here!" She announced, waving her hand over head. The silver haired man looked over at the group, then began a slow casual walk towards them.

"Well, it seems I wasn't the only one who didn't fly into a blind panic last night!" He said upon reaching them. He looked at captain Phoenix. "I don't think there is anyone left in the dormitory captain. I salvaged what I could, but most of the good items and equipment are gone." Phoenix nodded.

"I still have a few guards that stayed in town. I have them looking for other players right now. Let's all split up and see if there is anyone else left. We'll meet up here in an hour. That should be plenty of time to comb this town for anyone and anything useful!" The others nodded, and each went there own direction.

Alice walked north, towards the church. She found several villagers that had taken shelter there during the night that were now leaving to begin there morning routine. One of them told her that they had hid there as the church held no chests, and thus, nothing to loot, making it a reasonable place to hide during the anarchy of the previous night. Alice took this into consideration as she walked further through the northern side of town. She decided to ignore the houses that had appeared naturally, as the players would not have stored anything in them. Instead she turned her gaze towards the newer buildings that had likely been built after the first players had arrived.

She saw that one of the farthest houses had a large hole blown in the side of it. "Must have been a Creeper. Or someone playing with TNT..." She approached the ruined building and surveyed the damage. She saw a pair of villagers nearby, one sitting on the ground looking rather sad, with the other consoling him with a hand on his shoulder. "Poor guy, this must have been his house."

She decided to investigate the houses interior. She jumped down the two block hole and climbed into the ruin proper. She saw that there wasn't much left. A few random odds and ends were scattered about the ground. A few dyes, flowers, and empty glass bottles made up most of these. She collected what she could before looking around. Seeing nothing else of note, she climbed back out of the hole. She approached the two villagers.

"Excuse me, did this house belong to one you?" Alice asked. The one that was standing nodded, and gestured to his grieving friend, who was crying softly. Alice held out the items she had collected and offered them to the villagers. "I'm sorry, but this is al I could find inside. I think the looters took most everything else that might be considered useful." The weeping villager sniffled and removed his hands from his face. He extended his hands and accepted the offering. He began to cradle the items in his arms and stared at them sadly. Alice began to walk away when she was stopped by the other villager.

"Thank you. You didn't have to do that." He said, looking between her and his friend, who was still carefully watching his items.

"I didn't really do much!" Alice said back to him. After all, all she really did was find a few pieces.

"Everything helps. Even if it's small, it's nice to have something after a tragedy like this. It's not much, but I hope this helps you." He reached into his pockets and pulled out two potions of healing. He offered them to Alice, who hesitated in accepting them. "Take them, you'll need them more than I will!" Alice took the potions and held them in her hands for a moment. "If there is one good thing that came about from last night, at least the players worth anything stayed behind, and those who think only of them selves ran off." The villager said, turning around and returning to his friend, who had not moved from his trance like state. Alice looked after him for a moment, before placing the potions in her inventory, and resuming her search.

{West side of town}

Alyannie walked next to Nel through the western streets of Valley town. They found that it was largely intact despite the looting. The villagers began to go about there morning routine, circumventing any damage that may have occurred.

"Doesn't look like there was much going on here last night." Alyannie observed. Nel looked over towards a cluster of small houses, and nodded.

"Your right. I think most of the players remembered that the west side of town was mostly the villager side. I don't think many players lived here. The duo continued their walk, seeing no players, but they both couldn't help but notice that some of the villagers gave them the stink eye.

"Is it me, or do these villagers seem rather unhappy to see us?" Alyannie said after she caught a blacksmith staring at them. Nel shook his head.

"It's not you, I think I understand what's going on though." Alyannie looked at him curiously, not quite getting what he was saying. "After last night, I don't think the players who went crazy left the best impression on these people. They probably think we're scavengers, coming to see what's left and check if it's worth taking!" Alyannie looked down, slowing her pace as she began to understand. She looked over to her right and saw a child peeking through the window. The child immediately ducked down, realizing he's been spotted. Alyannie began to feel tears in her eyes at the sight.

Nel stopped walking once he noticed that Alyannie wasn't with him. He turned around and saw here standing still with her head down, and her fists clenched. He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" A note of concern entering his voice.

"I... I think we should leave. I don't think these people want us here!" She turned around and began to walk back to the square. Nel looked after her, not moving for a moment, before slowly beginning to follow her.

{South side of town.}

Chris stepped carefully past several blocks of stone and dirt that littered the street. From the ruined buildings and scattered items, he deduced that this must have been one of the hotspots for the anarchy of the previous day. He saw that a few decent items had been tossed aside in the mad search for the best ones. After a few minuets of searching, he found various pieces of armor in leather and iron, two iron swords, and even some flint and steel.

He placed the items in his inventory, and began to turn around, ready to report his findings to the others, when he began to hear a strange thumping sound. He looked around the area, trying to find the source. "Hello? Is someone there?" He yelled to the area at large. Whatever was making the sound seemed to hear him, as the pounding intensified. Chris deduced that it was coming from the house to his left, and began to approach cautiously. He confirmed this theory as the sound got louder as he approached. He entered the house and began to look around, though he didn't have to look for very long. Inside of the house was a large closet with door's handles held in place by a wooden stick.

Chris tilted his head in confusion slightly. "Hello? Is there someone in there?" The banging on the door stopped.

"Oh, finally, someone came to find me. Could you please open the door?" Chris walked up and slid the stick from the door. The closet immediately opened, almost hitting Chris in the face. Stepping out of the closet was a tall slightly muscular wearing a yellow waistcoat, worn out jeans, red and black Jordans and coal black hair. His eyes were closed, and a smirk was on his face.

"Um... are you-" Chris started to ask, when the person raised a hand to stop him, his smile only growing. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. He flicked them open, and held them in front of his face.

"Thank you for your help! I'm finally ..." He placed the glasses on his face. "Out of the closet!"

"..." Chris had no words to respond to that. After a few awkward seconds passed, Chris decided to try again. "Are you alright?" he asked slowly. The guy looked at him, that smile still on his face.

"Yep, and thank you again for helping me out of there. Some jokester decided to lock me in there while trying to steal my stuff. Unfortunately for them, I keep my best things buried underground!" He turned back to the closet and pulled out an Axe. He chopped at the floor, removing one wooden block to reveal a chest buried underneath. He opened the chest and spent a moment sorting through his things before he turned around again and faced Chris. "If I may ask, who is my knight in casual clothes?" He asked, still smiling.

"My names Chris. And you are?" Chris said, offering a hand, albeit hesitantly.

"My name is Ryder Meloane. And it is a pleasure to meet you Chris." Ryder began to vigorously shake Chris's hand.

Chris eventually got his hand free of Ryder's vice grip. "Nice to meet you too... I am going to meet up with my friends in the center of town, you should probably come along." Ryder nodded.

"Certainly, that means a bigger audience!" Ryder then ran out the door, before slowly backing through the door again. "Um, where is this meeting place?" Chris sighed, and began to lead the way back to the town square, wondering if he should have left Ryder in the closet.

{The fountain}

Alyannie and Nel had been waiting for the others to return to the meeting place. This was time spent in an uncomfortable silence as Alyannie was still upset over what she had seen, and Nel wasn't sure how to reassure her. Luckily for him, a loud voice could be heard approaching from the south. The two looked to see the approach of Chris and Ryder, who was happily making jokes about the place. He then looked at the fountain and saw Alyannie looking mopey, and immediately charged her.

"Excuse me young lady, but are trying to become a statue?" Alyannie blinked at him confused. "because it seems whenever I see someone sad on a fountain, they are a statue!" Alyannie blinked again, then looked to Chris, who shook his head and shrugged. Alyannie was about to respond to Ryder , when Alice called out them.

"Hey you guys! Did you find anything?" She couldn't help but notice that Alyannie and Nel both looked away, and Chris shrugged again.

They all turned again to the east, where Pheonix and five others were approaching from. "I have bad news everyone." He paused slightly. " I have just spoken with the Mayor. He has requested that we leave town by tonight!"

A.N.

Hello everyone! I have a little announcement to make. Well, more like a few.

1: This story is one year old! Yay! Thank you to all you who are reading this both new and old. You all are amazing, and are the real reason for this stories success. I might be able to use the characters, but it thanks to all of you that this story is possible thanks the amazing characters I have received over the past year. Thank you to all of you decided to give this story and me a chance, both newcomers and those returning. I cannot say it enough times that I really appreciate the love this story has received. So at the risk of sounding repetitive, Thank you once again.

2: Applications for player ocs are now officially closed. I will still accept mobs, and possibly villainous players if you talk with me beforehand.

That is all for now. I am sorry if this seems a bit rushed, because I know it is. I apologize if your character is not what you expected or what you have come to expect. I really wanted this out today, and the ending sort of had to happen (I think it's pretty obvious which parts I wrote ahead of the deadline and which ones were on the deadline). I plan to go into more detail next chapter. Thank you all once again for reading my story, if you have questions or concerns, feel free to leave me a review or send a pm.

I hope to see you all soon!

Sincerely:

the 25th Doctor


	13. Pulling some strings

Pulling some strings.

Disclaimer: I do not own Minecraft or most of the characters in this story. This story is purely for fun and not for profit.

Day after the announcement

All things wear a mask in life, humans especially. Their history was filled with figures that cried out for freedom, and the ability to choose their fate. But they have always been puppets on strings. Those that follow these speakers of freedom are merely following the directions of another. They may imagine that the choice is their own, but all that was really occurring was that their strings were being pulled one way or another.

That made the game so much more fun. Humans are passionate creatures that can be easily swayed by fanciful words and grand gestures. All one need do is use the right bait; and mankind will tear itself apart in the mad rush to seize it. The previous night was proof of this. All The Master had to do was promise eyesight to the blind, and they players fell into a mad frenzy to reach their goal.

The Master counted itself fortunate that it was free of the petty concerns of this world, that it was able to remove its mask and choose who or what it would become. Today it was a woman, tall with short spiky hair colored a deep violet. The woman's eyes were a deep blue, her lips thin, and her cheekbones high. This persona walked amongst the players, watching them grow more impatient with each passing moment.

They shouted at each other, threatened each other, and most importantly, they abandoned each other. She saw the angered stares that were exchanged between Joshua and Ian, the hatred between the two was most palpable. Joshua had every right to be angry of course, given the rumors that were spread amongst the camp; that he sought the affections of both fair Isabella, his lady love, and pretty little Katie who wished to take that title for herself. The Master had seen fit to let it reach his ears that Ian had started the rumors, and Joshua had been quick to take the bait. The result was the camp now being split into factions.

She now stood behind Ian as he walked with Garret, a man more gullible than wise. She heard him speak to his new minion, no, his new pawn. Ian was slightly shorter than average, with dusty blond hair. His green eyes would widen and shrink with his words, while his hands moved in motions both great and subtle as he spoke.

"You see Garrett, all you have to do is listen to me, and we will both make it to this Marionette Master and get out of here. Just leave the planning to me! Deal?" Ian spoke, his silver serpent's tongue casting its spell.

"Alright, you can count on me!" Garrett spoke, not seeing the blue eyes role behind him. "Is anyone else going to follow you?" Perhaps he did have some sense, though not enough to ask before agreeing.

"Oh yes! Elijah, Samson and Maria are all with us! Just watch my friend," He wrapped an arm around Garrett as best as he could, Garrett being almost a foot and half taller. "the five of us are going to see the end of this nightmare!" The Master could not see Garrett's face, but imagined that it was filled with foolish hope that would turn to terror the moment he ceased to be useful to Ian.

The two separated, and only then did Ian notice that his conversation had not truly been private. "Jade!" He smiled quickly, his worry was visible only for the slightest of moments. "How's it going? How's Isabella doing? Losing Joshua was really a blow to her wasn't it?"

Jade spoke, her voice different from her unmasked self. "you have heard incorrectly. Isabella and Joshua are still one heart shared! Joshua has made it quite clear that Katie is of no interest to him. Katie is the one who has spent much of her time weeping to herself recently!" Ian raised an eyebrow at this, but it was momentary, his poker face quickly returning.

"I see, well, I hope things improve soon, all of this drama is bad for the moral of the group!" But good for you, The Master thought, good for spinning your webs and trapping your flies.

"Me too!" Jade said. She slowed her pace and allowed most of the column of thirteen players to pass her, until she was close to Joshua. The young man was very different from Ian. Ian was short, Joshua was very tall. Ian was pale of skin, green of eye and gold of hair. Joshua had black hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin.

Joshua was walking beside Isabella, her long brown hair falling past her shoulders, their hands intertwined. The two young lovers smiled at her approach, nothing to hide, no worry to replace with false smiles. "Jade! Good morning!" Joshua said, Isabella smiling beside him.

Jade returned this smile and nodded. "Good morning! Glad to see you two are happy. I passed Katie and Emily on the way back here, they both seemed rather serious about not letting anyone hear whatever it was they whispering about."

Joshua groaned slightly. "Geez, things are really not going the way I hoped. I have Ian scheming behind my back, Katie being angry at me for being loyal to Isabella," the girl in question squeezed his hand slightly tighter. "And now what is probably more gossip being spread around." He raised the hand that was not joined with Isabella's and rubbed his forehead with it.

"It will be alright my dear!" Isabella said, turning fully to face him and releasing her grip on his in order to fully envelop him in a loving embrace. Joshua returned the gesture, resting his head on her shoulder. Jade gave him an apologetic look.

"I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news!" That was to the Master's pleasure lately in truth. Seeing how the leader of this little group would react to this news, and how he would move to prevent the groups fracturing would likely be entertaining to watch. All this brought a smile to the Master's face, unseen behind the worried mask of Jade.

"Don't be! I would rather find out thanks to your warning then to find a sword in my back!" He said as he ended the embrace. He looked at Jade with a warm smile. Isabella matched the smile on her lover's face, and Jade returned the kind gesture.

"I'll leave you two alone!" She said, walking away and waving. Once her back was turned on the happy couple, she quietly exited the convoy and entered the forest. Her expression became neutral, her hands moved upward and clamped the sides of her face, and pulled forward. Jade fell away, the clothes she had worn disappeared into smoke, her hair receding, and her lively eyes changing color to a deep, all-consuming black. Where Jade had stood, now crouched a figure clad in robes of black and gold, their hair first short, then long, then short again, the color ever shifting from red, to yellow, to green and on and on. The figure stood, revealing it to be as tall as an Enderman.

"Yes," the figure spoke, it's voice odd and distorted, carrying tones both masculine and feminine. "I will leave you alone for now. It's time to check on some of my other puppets!" The creature smiled, a smile that promised nothing good for those who had the misfortune to witness it. It approached a tree and pulled from his robes a key, colored bright gold.

The key was placed against the wood of the tree, and an opening appeared. Returning the key to its pocket, the Master stepped through the 'door' and closed it behind him. The forest fell silent, not a soul to be found, except for a young man standing behind a tree, trying to comprehend what he had witnessed. Garrett had followed Jade to make sure she was alright just wandering into the woods, but then he had seen that!

"What was that?" The confused man asked falling to his knees.

A.N

Hi everyone. I just wanted to announce that **THIS STORY IS NOT DEAD!** I have no intention of letting this story die. I will finish it eventually. School and other parts of life have just been taking up what time I have to write. The reason this chapter is so lacking of main characters is because my time is short, and this was already half written. I wanted to get something out to you guys, and so we get a look at a villain. Is it the real master, or does it have strings of its own?

Thank you for your patience everyone. I promise updates when I have the time to seriously write.

Sincerely

The 25th Doctor.


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